


stillness (a promise of rest)

by hyunghoney



Series: kihyungwon bingo [1]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Doctor/Patient, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Superheroes, kihyun is a superhero, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 18:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17371325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyunghoney/pseuds/hyunghoney
Summary: Because the rest of the world wants Kihyun to save them, but Hyungwon only wants him to rest.





	stillness (a promise of rest)

**Author's Note:**

> I finally finished my first KHW bingo fic!! Aren't you guys proud of me? 
> 
> This fic can be read on it's own, but it's actually a PREQUEL/sneak peek of a longer chaptered fic that I'll start posting sometime this year! I hope you enjoy :D 
> 
> For the prompt: 'superheroes and villains'
> 
> (UPDATE 1/4/19) I edited the format and some info in this fic! This is to better align with the worldbuilding of the main story. Also, I changed the fic description to something more apt~

Dr. Chae is on a call when Gravity kicks the laboratory door open. It slams into the wall with the force, bouncing back violently. He stops it expertly with one outstretched hand, unflinching at the pain of the smack. His forehead is wet. The floor of the laboratory is pristine and white. He notices a few drops of blood splatter across it. An alarm, triggered by the break-in, blares from overhead. Dr. Chae doesn’t react. He pulls up different diagrams on his bright computer screen, brows furrowed in concentration. A voice that Gravity can’t make out sounds from the phone. Dr. Chae holds the phone so loosely it looks like it could slip out at any moment, and replies.   
  
“Unfortunately there isn’t a match for the DNA that was found—“   
  
Gravity continues to stand in the doorway, dripping blood. There’s cold air on his skin where it’s exposed by the rip in his clothes. The alarm is almost deafening, but entirely useless. The person  it’s meant to alert carries on about his business, ignoring him.   
  
“Well, our level of technology can’t achieve more than this, whether we’re searching for a supervillain or a petty criminal.”   
  
The alarm dies down when Dr. Chae clicks a button on his desk. He still doesn’t look over at the intruder. That is, until his hand is dragged down by the weight of his phone that has increased tenfold. He looks up for a second and rolls his eyes but doesn’t otherwise respond, casually changing his call to speaker mode.   
  
“I will inform you when there’s a development. For now, I have a patient to tend to.”   
  
The patient in question raises a hand in greeting, glad to finally be noticed.   
  
“ _Can they wait?_ ” The person on the other end sounds harassed. Dr. Chae looks to Gravity to answer the question he’d repeated. Gravity shakes his head.   
  
“No, he can’t wait, he’s a Super. He’s got places to be.”   
  
Dr. Chae looks him up and down, taking in the torn uniform, the blood, the cracked visor hanging from his hand, then waves him over to the examination table.   
  
“I take it Centauri didn’t go down without a fight?”   
  
He shows him his battered hands as an answer.   


“Oh, Kihyun…”

  
Dr. Chae bites his lip in worry.

 

“It’s not as bad as it looks, Won.”

 

Kihyun sits gingerly on the edge of the table, then inches back until only his legs hang off it. Hyungwon puts away his work. Kihyun sees Centauri’s profile on the computer screen.   
  


Alias: CENTAURI  
Power(s): Light manipulation, Optical illusion   
Known Associates: -  
Years Active: Three   
Danger rating: Extreme   


  
“Extreme?” He snorts. “The only thing extreme about Centauri is his extreme ability to keep trying the same dumb plans in the same city in the same month.”   
  
Hyungwon just shrugs.     
  
Kihyun hisses in pain when Hyungwon rubs his forehead with an antiseptic wipe. The doctor apparently has no sympathy for him, and continues to clear his face of the blood. The bin is filled with antiseptic wipes, each soaked in blood. Kihyun knew he had a high tolerance for pain, but he hadn’t realised Centauri had hurt him this badly. He may need to reconsider his scorn for the “Extreme” label after all.   
  
“Wasn’t Centauri the one that nearly blinded the whole country the other week? If it wasn’t for that new Super, we’d be a third short of the three blind mice. What’s that guy’s name again? Chancer?”   
  
Chancer, the hero that saved the country last week. Chancer, the fucking dumbass. Kihyun feels his spirits sink at the mention of the new superhero. A grumble escapes him without his permission. Hyungwon perceives his mood immediately.   
  
“You didn’t break down the door of a government-guarded top-secret research laboratory just so I could fix your injuries, did you?”   


Kihyun shakes his head no. Hyungwon uses a hand to move Kihyun’s hair away from his face. His hands are cold from the air-conditioning but Kihyun still leans in, letting Hyungwon run his fingers through his hair, untangling the mess.

 

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

 

* * *

 

“We have a new assignment for you.”

 

There are days when it’s easy for Kihyun to pretend that he’s free to do as he pleases. Those days, he’d jump to action at the sound of trouble on the streets — mask on, donning his blue and silver (his “shark” colours, as Hyungwon has lovingly termed them), following only his instincts. Other days, he has to remember he’s dealt his autonomy away. Reporting to the grey building of the Supers Regulation Government Department in his dull suit, completing his everyday training, waiting to be assigned a time and place to save the city, it’s too easy to remember this.   
  
His supervisor, Jung, is a man in his late fifties, with a stern, wrinkle-lined face that looks like it’s never housed a smile. He’s tall but unimpressive, a slumping, 6 foot man whose only job seems to be to make Kihyun feel caged in his presence.

 

“I trust you are aware of the events of the past week, concerning the high-profile criminal Centauri.”

 

 _Just call him a supervillain, it’s not that childish._ He nodded.

 

“Then you must have heard of the vigilante who stopped him, Chancer.”

 

He nodded again, uneasily. He didn’t like where this was going.

 

“After much discussion, it has been decided that Chancer requires government supervision. He’s a low-level vigilante who disregards the rules and is known to be reckless, and has been classified a liability.”

 

But then again, Kihyun thought privately, aren’t all Supers liabilities in the eyes of the government? That was the very reason for the creation of the SRGD in the first place, to control Supers that had too much power and support from the general population to be left without supervision. Jung pulled up a tab on his display screen –  

 

Alias: CHANCER  
Power(s): Luck Manipulation     
Affiliation: –   
Years Active: Three   
Danger rating: Unknown     


“This is your new assignment.”

 

* * *

 

Kihyun is too fired up still to react much to the pain of his forehead being stitched up. Hyungwon gnaws on his own bottom lip, concentrating on the task. (Kihyun doesn’t at all think that’s a little adorable.) He’s just thankful that his mask covers his forehead – it’d be embarrassing to let Centauri know he’d managed to leave a mark, next time they go toe to toe.

 

“I obviously trust you to not tell anyone this,” Hyungwon comments while putting a bandage on Kihyun’s forehead. Kihyun raises an eyebrow at the sudden declaration. Trust is a hard thing to come by in this age of supervillains, even between long-time friends. “But I do think the department’s getting heavy-handed. They don’t have to get their hands on every single Super that comes around. It _could_ bite them in the ass someday.”

 

Kihyun shrugs, non-committal.

 

“Although if you ask me, this Chancer guy is in serious need of supervision,” Hyungwon continues thoughtfully.

 

His work done, he drops into the seat next to Kihyun. Kihyun watches as he disposes of his medical gloves and pulls his sleeves back down. The numerous computer screens are still lit with endless tabs of research, alerts for emails and messages Hyungwon has to answer.

 

Being a high-ranking medical professional, Hyungwon is always busy. His reputation for spending weeks holed in his lab to help in the capture of villains precedes him, and he’s almost a Super in his own right, minus the superpower. (Although, according to Hyungwon, he is “a sidekick at best”.) Yet when Kihyun comes to visit, it’s like he has nothing better to do than take care of him.

 

They’re “friends”, or something. Kihyun doesn’t like the idea of having a friend. The world is filled with victims and villains and heroes, and Hyungwon is none of those, but he isn’t a friend. He isn’t a friend, he’s more than not-a-friend, he’s an oasis. Because the rest of the world wants Kihyun to save them, but Hyungwon only wants him to rest. They’re not friends, they’re something purer. Hyungwon doesn’t revere him, doesn’t worship him, doesn’t demand, doesn’t command. He just takes care of him, and never asks for anything in return.

 

Hyungwon wipes the blood off his face with a wet tissue. He gets to Kihyun’s busted lip and frowns, dabbing gently around it. Kihyun’s a pretty strong Super, if he says so himself, and yet Hyungwon treats him like he’s breakable.

 

He files that away in his head for later consideration.  

 

“I just don’t get why they’d assign him to you. Everyone knows how you feel about people like that.”

 

Just as Hyungwon’s work ethic preceded him, Kihyun is also well known in the SRGD. His reputation comes from completely and utterly resenting every random person that came through the door calling themselves a “Super” simply for having a power. But simply _having_ a superpower does not a superhero make.  

 

Kihyun didn’t take on the title of “Gravity” for shits and giggles.

 

“I just don’t think “Chancer” or whatever that kid wants to call himself knows what it takes to do this job.”

 

“Well, not everyone can have a tragic backstory like you.” Kihyun hears the teasing lilt to Hyungwon’s voice. They’ve known each other long enough for the jab to not sting, for Hyungwon’s teases to be nothing more than they are. He smiles with good humour, not offended.

 

Anyway, he supposes he does have a somewhat tragic backstory.

  


When Kihyun was a child, he’d wanted the world.

 

He first learnt to crawl, to talk, to walk, and then when he’d gotten terribly bored of the still earth and the flat ground, he taught himself to fly. He still remembers floating around his childhood bedroom, grasping his chubby fingers around the toy galaxy hanging from his pastel ceiling, delight in his laughter. His father had screamed and fallen back in surprise the first time he’d walked into the room and seen his six-year-old walking in air. His parents had both been surprised, shocked, over the moon. They’d never been afraid. Why should they have been?

 

Kihyun wasn’t afraid when he learnt to fly higher – his parents were there below, and they were fearless, and he was fearless. When supervillains began to plague the world, he still wasn’t afraid. What was fear? He was invincible.

 

When he was fourteen years old, his parents took a few days off to take him on holiday after his exams.

 

On the first day, they visited his grandparents’ house. It was huge and ancient and his father let him float up to the roof to look down the chimney. On the second day, they took him to a skating rink. On the third day, his parents died in a helicopter crash. On the fourth day, Kihyun never stopped being afraid again. On the fifth day, he moved into his grandparents’ house.

 

He hadn’t just tasted fear. He’d swallowed it, and it was more than he could stomach, so it spread into his mind and his heart. Fear was staring down at the ground a million miles down, begging God or anyone to not let him drop. Fear was watching his parents, already too far out of his reach, hurtling down to a sure death. Fear was seeing the helicopter he’d just been in crashing into a hill, crashing, crashing, crashing. He’d never fly again.

 

So, yeah, he supposes it makes him a little like Batman.

 

You can’t devote yourself to the world if you’ve still got things to lose.

 

Kihyun knows he doesn’t have to worry about that.

 

(Hyungwon takes his battle-worn hand, brings his bruised knuckles to his cheek.)

 

* * *

 

Hyungwon believes he is very knowledgeable. He’d grown up learning advanced science and medicine under the renowned scientist, Dr. Lee. He’d very easily made it to the top of his graduate class despite being years younger, and when he’d joined the SRGD, he’d risen through the ranks faster than most of his colleagues. Very humbly, he may even claim that he knows a lot more than the average person. He knows the history of medical advancements, he knows what makes Supers biologically different from a regular human, he knows the danger ratings of every villain and hero on record, and he knows he loves Kihyun.

 

That last fact, he knows a little more intimately.

 

Kihyun sits on the stiff chair near the examination table, head tilted back. His suit, all deep blue and dirty silver, is torn where Centauri had probably hit him with a laser blast. His visor is bloody from the forehead injury, and hangs off his two outstretched fingers, still dripping a little. Hyungwon winces at the red of the blood. He hopes Kihyun managed to get the villain back for hurting him so badly.

 

In the comic books, superheroes don’t kill supervillains because of their moral code, and thus have to fight the same supervillains (who don’t really pose a threat) over and over again. In real life, which is where they unfortunately live, the bad guy isn’t so easily defeated, and the hero just has to keep fighting these ultra-powerful bastards who insist on making the world worse. Which means Kihyun – tired, miserable Kihyun – never catches a break.

 

Kihyun’s dossier is implanted into his mind, he’s has it memorised as long as he’s loved Kihyun.

 

Alias: GRAVITY

Name: YOO KIHYUN   
Power(s): Gravity Manipulation     
Affiliation: SRGD     
Years Active: Nine   
Danger rating: High

 

Hyungwon adds, in his mind, “Friends: None”. Hyungwon knows Kihyun doesn’t consider him a friend. It stung once, but not anymore. He holds back. Kihyun is a damaged thing, and Hyungwon will not be one of the things to hurt him. Kihyun doesn’t react when Hyungwon takes his hand and puts it against his own cheek. His eyes are fluttering shut now, but his body is tense, alert. Always alert. Hyungwon aches for him, feels drained for him.

 

“Maybe you _should_ take this assignment,” he tells him, while grabbing another tissue. Kihyun releases a noise between a huff and a snort. He grumbles when Hyungwon takes the visor out of Kihyun’s hands, places it into a container for later fixing. He takes Kihyun’s hands, stained by the visor, and places the tissue in them. “And clean your hands.”

 

Kihyun at least takes one half of his advice, and carefully removes the traces of blood from each finger.

 

 _Rest_ , Hyungwon begs him in his mind, _the world won’t fall apart without you holding it up_.

 

“I’ll take it if you think I should.” Kihyun’s looking at him with bleary eyes. “If you think it’s a good idea.”

 

Hyungwon calculates, speeds through the thought process. A smile crooks his mouth.

 

“I do. Yoo Kihyun, the babysitter. What a concept.”

 

Kihyun barks a laugh, and Hyungwon swells with pride. Then he’s being pulled off his feet, floating in the air, screaming in shock. He wiggles uselessly at Kihyun from a few feet up, pouting at this childish display of power. Kihyun laughs again, and Hyungwon’s heart lurches in a way that’s completely unrelated to his feet suddenly becoming useless. Hyungwon can resist Kihyun sometimes, when he really wants to. He doesn’t really want to. Kihyun just grins at him from the seat, a hand lifted lazily in the air, holding him up.

 

Hyungwon loves Kihyun best like this – happy, free. That smile can light his whole world on fire, and Hyungwon would happily fan the flames. Kihyun doesn’t keep him in the air for much longer, letting him plop to the ground. Hyungwon dusts himself off. Kihyun doesn’t offer a hand to help him up, but watches him, mouth open in a painfully bright laugh.

 

The phone rings. Kihyun’s laughter is cut short as he turns to the sound. Work, again. When it isn’t Kihyun, it’s Hyungwon. Hyungwon sighs as a colleague’s name flashes on his phone screen, but doesn’t move to answer.

 

“That sounds important, Won.”

 

 _Not when_ you’re _here_ , he doesn’t reply.

 

“That’s for later.”

 

The day is still early, far too early for either of them to rest.

 

“For now, let’s get you cleaned up.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed! 
> 
> Thank you to Megan and Asher for beta-ing and Asher for the title.
> 
> As always, you can find me on tumblr @sakurachae and twitter @hyunghoney :D Also, you can send me a message on curiouscat @hyunghonie !! 
> 
> And while you're here, go check out the other fics in the kihyungwon bingo collection!!
> 
> UPDATE: The longer chaptered fic has been posted at last!! It's called "SUPERHERO LOVE STORY" and features kihyun, hyungwon, and minhyuk! Please read it too :D


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